A full evening work in three parts by Alexander Ekman.
Choreographer Alexander Ekman is conquering the international dance scene. In 2006 he was named “choreographer to watch” by BalletTanz (Tanz) magazine and thereafter has gone on to an illustrious career choreographing for major dance companies the world over. Having previously choreographed a few works for Cullberg, August 2010 marked the creation of his first full evening piece Ekman’s Triptych – A Study of Entertainment. Three separate parts weave through a multitude of expressions, where dance meets dialogue, wit becomes wistful and the meaningful bonds with the meaningless.
What is entertainment?
“This is my first full-evening performance and it is tremendously inspiring! This is a fabulous opportunity. I want to create an evening that surprises the audience on so many different levels. The work contains three themes with three moods. I have always been fascinated by the difference between art and entertainment, and I will try to get the audience to question the clichés of both.”
– Alexander Ekman.
World première 20 October 2010 at House of Dance, Stockholm.
Alexander Ekman was born in Stockholm in 1984. He trained at the Royal Swedish Ballet School from 1994-2001. From 2001-2002 he danced at the Royal Swedish Ballet in Stockholm. He then joined Netherlands Dans Theater II from 2002-2005. During his dance career he worked with choreographers such as Jiří Kylián, Hans van Manen, Nacho Duato, Johan Inger and Mats Ek.
Between 2005-2006 Alexander danced with the Cullberg Ballet where he had his first breakthrough receiving a second prize at the international choreographic competition in Hannover for his piece The Swingle Sisters, for which he also claimed the critics’ prize.
In the same year he was chosen as one of the dancers to create a work Okänd Art? for the Cullberg Växtverk project, which was performed in Stockholm and Malmö in April 2006. During autumn of the same year Alexander created the choreography, set and music to Flock Work for NDT II, which premiered in November 2006 and became his international breakthrough as a choreographer.
Since then Alexander has gone on to create works for Netherlands Dans Theater I, Ballet de L’Opéra du Rhin, France, Bern Ballet and Ballet Junior de Genève, Switzerland, IT-Dansa in Spain, the Iceland Dance Company, as well as for the Göteborg Ballet.
Alexander also created choreography for Cullberg Ballet’s 40th anniversary, as well as the dance installations presented at the Moderna Museet in 2008 and at the Bildmuseet in Umeå. In 2009, Alexander created the video projections for Mats Ek’s production of Roland Schimmelpfennings Hållplats at Stockholm City Theater.In March 2010, Alexander’s first dance film, 40 M UNDER premiered in collaboration with Cullberg Ballet in Stockholm. During spring and summer 2010 he will create a new work; La La Land, for the Göteborg Ballet, as well as a new piece for Cedar Lake Dance Company in New York. The work Cacti, which Ekman created for NDT II during the winter of 2010 was given as a gift to the Oslo Opera from Her Majesty Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands during a state visit. Alexander Ekman will be resident choreographer for NDT II from 2011-2013.